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In the New Year gift to the mutual fund investors: the market regulator SEBI today exempted them from payment of entry fee on applications filed directly to the asset management companies (AMC). Small investors taking the mutual funds route have got a New Year gift from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). In an order issued on Monday, Dec 31, 2007, the market watchdog scrapped the ‘entry load’ (which is usually around 2.5% of the amount invested), if investors directly purchased units in a scheme from the fund, without going through agents.

Sebi’s circular said the exemption of entry fee would applicable to investors applying over the Net, submitting forms to the asset management companies of the funds, or to their collection/investor service centres, which are not routed through any distributor/agent/broker. The exemption would apply for investments in existing schemes with effect from January 4, and in new schemes to be launched thereafter. “It has now been decided that no entry load shall be charged for direct applications received by the AMCs i.e. applications received through Internet, submitted to AMCs or collection centre/ investor’ service centres that are not routed through any distributor/ agent broker,” Securities and Exchange Board of India circular reads.

The exemption would apply for investments in existing schemes with effect from January 4, 2008 and in new scheme to be launched thereafter. The SEBI circular further said, the entry fee exemption would also apply to additional purchases made directly by the investors under the same folio or for switching from one scheme to the other. These exemptions, the SEBI said, were intended “to protect the interest of investors’ securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market”. 

This is good and positive move and will help the mutual fund industry. This decision was overdue and for the past five years this exemption was sought. The SEBI’s move, however, would have adverse implications for the intermediaries who have been involved with the mutual fund industry. 

The last day of 2007 ended well on Dalal Street. The Sensex finished at 20,286.99, 80 points in the green, rising at one point, to within 14 points of its all-time high of 20,498.11. Proving pundits, who had predicted that the return on stock market investments may drop to around 10-15 per cent in 2007 wrong, the Sensex rose over 47 per cent for the year - among the fastest in the world. Market capitalisation of Indian stocks doubled, to cross Rs 71, 70,000 crore. Foreign investors pumped in over $17 billion, roughly twice the’ amount they put in during 2006. 

Infrastructure, metal, real estate, financial services and power stocks posted massive gains. 2007 was the year of the old, economy boom. IT stocks faced severe setbacks; auto stocks ended flat with a slowdown in demand for cars of late.

Mukesh rich! Laxmi richest

King of steel Lakshmi. N. Mittal reigns as the richest Indian for the fourth year in a row with a wealth of $51 billion, although his crown is under threat from Mukesh Ambani, whose net worth soared to $49 billion, according to Forbes’ India’s 40 richest list- 2007.
But Mukesh’s position too is under, threat from his younger brother Anil, who is closing on his heels with a wealth of $45 billion at the third spot, according to  US-based Forbes magazine.

Real estate tycoon Kushal Pal Singh of DLF elbowed Wipro’s Azim Premji from the fourth spot in the list, which for the first time features all billionaires. "The four richest Indians are worth an astonishing $180 billion," Forbes said, attributing the surge in wealth to a booming stock market.

The net worth of Mukesh Ambani has jumped from $30.5 billion to $49 billion, making him the year’s biggest gainer. Anil’s net worth increased to $45 billion from $30.2 billion.
The fourth richest Indian Kushal Pal .Singh has a net worth of $35 billion and after the listing of his flagship DLF, he is now the world’s richest real estate developer, Forbes said.

"… thanks to the roaring Mumbai stock market, with the benchmark index gaining as much as 53 per cent in the past year and a strong rupee that appreciated 12 per cent, for the first time, all India rich-listers are billionaires," the magazine said in a report. The minimum wealth required to make it to the rich-list was $1.6 billion against $790 million last year. "In aggregate, their wealth surged to $351 billion, a bit more than double of last year’s $170 billion, making India’s 40 by far the wealthiest such group in all of Asia," the magazine added.

Forbes said 29 of the people, who returned to the list, were richer than last year, with the exception of Rahul Bajaj, whose fortune was flat at $2.3 billion. Newcomers to the list include Gautum Adani, who built Mundra Port; Anand Jain, Mukesh Ambani’s school buddy; and Gautum Thapar whose Ballarpur Industries is India’s largest paper maker.

Notable drop offs include Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and among those who failed to make the cut are Infosys’ Nandan Nilekani and Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, and investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.  

While the entire media attention has been focused on the ongoing ‘Premier Hockey League’ here, there is another camp that has been going on, silently, on the sidelines. And it could well make the difference at the Olympic qualifiers early 2008. Every day, for more than an hour in the morning, before the crowds start coming in for the day’s matches, India coach Joaquim Carvalho is busy trying out various combinations and variations during penalty corners.

With all the drag-flickers who were part of the fitness camp in Bangalore - Diwakar Ram, V Raghunath, Samir Baxla, and now Kanwalpreet Singh - and others involved in executing a penalty corner, Carvalho wants to ‘perfect’ penalty corners.

“For one, we want to maintain the continuity from Bangalore, not let the PHL be a break. Secondly; we get to practice together. I am also getting to see some good talent here during the matches. Like Kanwalpreet, who has been taking direct hits but I am impressed by his flicking here,” said Carvalho.

At the same time, the coach is also trying out various combinations, not just in drag flicking but also for other spots, like the rusher and the pusher. “I also want to see how effective the Bangalore camp and the ongoing PC camp is during the matches here, and whether the players are utilizing it all on field,” he said. “We try to strike a balance between practice and matches, so a player who has a game is not called for morning practice that day. But I am satisfied with the progress made,” he added.

However, ask him about the players left out of the camp and he becomes non-committal. Asked about Sandeep Singh, who scored the lone goal for Chandigarh Dynamos in their win in the opening game of the PHL, Carvalho simply said, “I am not looking back, I am looking forward at the new talent we have,” making it evident that the youngster was still not in the good books of the coach. On Jugraj Singh, who has been associated with the junior teams as a coach, Carvalho made it clear that the former drag flick expert was not in his scheme of things, as a player or coach.

India’s next camp begins on January 10, followed by a three-nation tournament at the end of the month in Chennai (involving Belgium and Pakistan) and then the team leaves for Australia, before returning and heading off to Chile for the qualifiers. One only hopes that Carvalho’s confidence in his “youngsters” translates into success for India.

With a view to giving youngsters a chance to rub shoulders with the seniors and top foreign players, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has fast tracked several youngsters, especially from the u-18 and u-21 national camps, into the Premier Hockey League. “In all, 17 players have been picked up for the PHL this year from the junior national camps,” said junior India coach A.K. Bansal. Appreciating the IHF move, he said, “PHL is the most competitive tournament we can offer to our players, and the juniors will learn a lot when exposed to such competitive hockey”.

The IHF, on its part, has shifted the junior’s national camp from Gurgaon to Shahbad to facilitate their participation in the tournament. “As Shahbad’s turf is nearest to Chandigarh, we shifted the camp here from Gurgaon so that players can easily go to Chandigarh venue and come back after playing their matches,” said Bansal.

But is it wise to push the juniors into PHL as many teams might not field them at all because of their lack of the experience, and, besides, they would join the teams just a day prior to their match? “That they are age-group player doesn’t mean they can’t match the seniors. Many of them were in the senior camp for the Olympic qualifier and have played a lot of hockey with them. So they wouldn’t feel out of place at all and I am sure they would be utilised,” said Bansal.

And Bansal’s observation proved right as three of the juniors - Samir Baxla, Diwakar Ram and Pramod Kumar - were in the playing eleven of the Hyderabad Sultan and Chandigarh Dynamos also substituted their only junior camper, Dharamvir, in their team.

And the juniors are apparently enjoying every bit of the exposure and experience they are gaining by playing with top players. “It’s like a dream come true for me. I always thought of being a part of it one day when the PHL started three years back. And finally the day has arrived,” said Dharamvir Singh of Chandigarh Hockey Academy, who is playing in PHL for the first time. He is a part of the Chandigarh Dynamos.

“Now my parents and friends sitting in Karnataka can see me playing hockey on TV along with the top international players,” said another first timer Cheeyanna, who is playing for the Bangalore High-fliers. “It’s the best place to get noticed. This is my second PHL and I will definitely try to get the maximum out of it,” said Diwakar Ram, who is playing for Hyderabad Sultans.

Junior age-group players in PHL:

Chandigarh Dynamos:   Dharamvir Singh.
Bangalore Lions: Cheeyanna.
Chennai Veerans: Sanawar Ali, Sreejesh P. R, Innocent Kulu, Danish Mujtaba.
Hyderabad Sultans: Samir Baxla, Diwakar Ram; Anand Tirkey, Pramod Kumar, Kulbhushan.
Maratha Warriors: Alden D’souza.
Orissa Steelers: Amardeep Ekka
Sher-e-Jalandhar: Rupinder Pal Singh, Pradeep Kumar, Ranjodh Singh and Gurwinder Singh.

Commerce has always been one of the most sought-after disciplines for career-oriented students. Its scope and significance have witnessed an upsurge with the advent of globalization and fast-paced economic growth. The field of commerce includes subjects like management, finance, accounts, economics, statistics and business administration. A host of professional study programmes are now available in all these traditional specialisations as well as many emerging areas. Commerce graduates can go in for any of these specialised courses of their choice, following which they stand a fair chance of getting a placement.

Choices to count on:
Though most of the professional courses are meant for graduates, the early starters can opt for the foundation courses in CA or CS after a plus two in commerce. However, experts recommend that the students should first complete their graduation in commerce (B.Com) and then venture into professional study programmes.

It is also advisable that along with their graduation, the commerce students join some relevant computer course to attain proficiency in its use and commerce-related applications.  Those aspiring to make a career in marketing, banking, insurance, human resource management or other related areas should also acquire good communication skills. A course in English-speaking and personality development from some reputed institute would be helpful to them in the long run.

Calculated moves:
The commerce graduates can go in for professional courses like MBA, Cost and Works Accountant (CWA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Master of Finance  and Control (MFC), Master of Business Economics (MBE), CA, CS, LLB and so on. Then, there are short-term as well as specialised study programmes in insurance management, bank management, travel and tourism management, advertising management, merchandising and so on. A Professional qualification in any of these from some reputed institution can kick-start the career of a commerce graduate.

For the not-so-ambitious ones, there are short-term courses like Tally and computer accountancy which can help them get some decent job.

Emerging areas:

While getting a professional degree from some premier institute - like an MBA from IIM - is of great help in shaping one’s career, there are many emerging specialisations designed in accordance with the needs and requirements of the changing times. These include rural marketing, retail management, real-estate management, hospital management, investment planning and financial management.

E-commerce:

E-commerce, or electronic commerce, is the buying and selling of goods and services through some electronic device, usually the television or the Internet. It is a phenomenon, which is set to computerise (read revolutionise) the mode of dealing with the banks, insurance companies, airlines, railways and other such institutions. It includes concepts like e-banking, e-reservation, e-ticketing and e-billing etc. The concept is still in its infancy in the country. E-commerce, coupled with the wide variety of job opportunities available on and through the Internet, are also going to influence commercial transactions, apart from creating employment opportunities.